Why not wave goodbye to summer with a huge send-off in New Orleans? And with $99 room rates at the New Orleans Marriott it won't break your wallet either.
Plus since the city is holding the 37th Southern Decadence Festival aka The Gay Mardi Gras at this time, the city is going to be filled with lots of shirtless men. (Ladies, perhaps you should consider this as a girlfriend getaway!)
If you do go, here's a tip: Book this deal at the hotel which offers a $25 Visa gift card when you book a room for the weekend. That's more booze for you! Even better, there is actually availability over Labor Day weekend (Aug. 29-Sept. 1) for the $99 rate and the gift card. Use Code V12 to book.
This Wednesday at the W New Orleans, Andy Warhol-inspired cocktails will make their debut. Heh. Leave it to W to host a Warhol event on Wednesday.
From 4.30pm until around seven, W is holding the "Shake It Up With Martini and Rossi" event: Andy Warhol prints combined with six cocktails using Martini and Rossi Vermouth and inspired by Warhol images.
They don't give too much more away except that there'll be "Velvet Edie" and "Factory Martini" cocktails among the six, and they'll all be shaken and stirred "Warhol-style". Which we think is pretty stylish.
It's a first come, first served night so don't be late, and if you do get to try a Warhol cocktail let us know how it tastes.
Man, we are total suckers for a hotel promo with a cute name.
Perhaps not such suckers that we would sit around stuffing our faces whilst clad in a bikini, but we are happy to watch other people do so at the W New Orleans - French Quarter's weekly Bikini Brunch this summer.
On Saturdays during the month of July, throw on your swimsuit (or your jeans) and head down to the W pool for:
a $15 brunch provided by Bacco including Fruit Salad, Gourmet Pasta Salad and Chilled Shrimp Cocktail. Bottle service will also be available in the courtyard complete with your favorite mixers.
Non-guests can totally enjoy the offer too; in fact, Bikini Brunchers (guests or not) get special access to the W Hotel pool all day.
Rates start around $179 per night -- courage to wear a bikini and eat food at the same time sold separately.
Last summer, we went down to New Orleans for a cocktail convention. (Tough life, right?) And while we did have lunch at the Loews New Orleans Hotel, we missed out on the latest innovation the hotel is hyping.
Groups of four can book a "Bar Chef Table" at Cafe Adelaide, for ringside seats to a hand-crafted dinner from chef Danny Trace and bartender Lu Brow. The duo have put together a Creole-inspired menu that pairs up with Brow's fancy cocktails. Each course is presented by chef Trace, making you feel like you're on a tipsy version of Iron Chef.
Meals at the chef's table are a totally reasonable $100 to $125 per person depending on what you order. Not bad for a long night of partying with restaurant industry insiders.
One of the world's most famous celebrations in one of America's most loved cities is right around the corner--Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Of course, everyone knows the place to be and be beaded on February 5 is Bourbon Street, and if you're looking for a little class among a celebration that occasionally gets a little raunchy, check out the Inn on Bourbon, an elegant hotel in the French Quarter that used to be the Old French Opera House, said to be the first opera house in the U.S., which opened on December 1, 1859.
This New Orleans hotel is so sought after during Mardi Gras you need to fill out an application to stay there. Seriously.
The Inn on Bourbon offers 179 guest rooms and seven suites, most that have balconies overlooking Bourbon or Toulouse streets, which makes it the perfect spot for looking down on (anyone up for a little double entendre?) all the Mardi Gras revelry.
You'll want to request a Bourbon Street Balcony Room, which costs about $900 per night during Mardi Gras. But you'll have to make that reservation for next year--like most Bourbon Street hotels, the Inn on Bourbon's best rooms have all been filled, though space is still available in a few standard rooms.
In fact, securing a room at the Inn on Bourbon for Mardi Gras is a little like applying to live in a New York City co-op. Priority is given to previous guests of the hotel; new entrants must fax a written request to 504-524-8273 to the attention of Jairo Brenes.
The hotel requires a minimum-five night stay that starts the Friday before Fat Tuesday and has you checking out that Wednesday. Insiders suggest booking as soon as possible to secure space in 2009.
With the official Mardi Gras website showing a fast disappearing countdown until the huge New Orleans fest kicks off, it's definitely time you firmed up your hotel booking. The parades run from January 25 through February 5 and a lot of hotels already have limited availability on that final weekend, but there are still rooms to be had.
At the Saint Louis Hotel in the French Quarter, they're running a special Mardi Gras package deal which starts at $199 per night. The deal includes complimentary cocktails and hors d'oeuvres every evening before you hit the town, a gift of your very own Mardi Gras throws, plus breakfast included each day served either in your room or in the hotel courtyard.
The location of the Saint Louis is great, only half a block from Bourbon Street and walking distance from many key attractions of New Orleans. Plus the price is reasonable, especially during Mardi Gras--but recent guest reviews have been very mixed, with some promising never to stay there again and others planning to return every year as they always have. Presumably at Mardi Gras you won't be spending much time in your hotel room anyway, so it's probably worth the risk.
[Ed. Note: Contributing editor PBB has taken a field trip to New Orleans where he put his handy camera skills to work for us.]
I was a little nervous about staying in the French Quarter. Bourbon Street, boozing, that whole thing. But then again, I went to New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail, so shouldn't I be praising the proximity to drinks? The Hotel Monteleone was ground zero for the event, and it was buzzing with cocktailians during my stay last week.
But on the sauce or off, how are the rooms? Mine was quite nice, if a little worn around the edges. Room 1277 has one half bath and one (enormous) full bath, a nice king bed, two TVs, three phones and plenty of space. As it's a corner room, there are also partial views of the Mississippi and the Quarter.
The hotel is also home to the Carousel Piano Bar & Lounge, one of the city's most famous bars. A (slowly) rotating platform whisks drinkers around the room giving you a chance to scope the crowd.
The downside to the Monteleone is the WiFi availability. It goes for $10 a day--even in the public areas of the hotel. But a few blocks away, La Boucherie has free WiFi and plenty of space to work.
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
Sheratons may look fugly on the outside but the Sheraton New Orleans has a pretty good view of the city's Canal Street as this picture from Room 1031 shows. Granted, it was taken by a seemingly professional photographer using a tripod and a bulb setting but nonetheless it beats a brick wall. Word on the street is the other side of the hotel has views of the river. Also, it seems to be the go-to hotel for conferences so maybe use your SPG points somewhere else if you are headed here for pleasure.
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by juliana
